Page 87 of Last Mile

Bishop cursed as he slapped the alarm clock off. When I turned over to face him, he was furiously rubbing his face and eyes to wake up. “Good morning,” I said.

After a wide yawn, Bishop grumbled, “Morning.”

“I guess it’s safe to say you aren’t a morning person, huh?”

“Fuck no.” He cocked his head at me. “Are you?”

I shrugged. “I’m okay with getting up early.”

“Well, as long as you’re with me, you better not be okay with it.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I don’t want you throwing open the curtains at the crack of fucking dawn while whistling a happy tune.”

I snorted at his summation. “You have nothing to worry about on that front, trust me.”

Bishop grinned. “I’m glad to hear it.” He stretched in bed and groaned again. “Fuck, I do not want to get up and get on the road.”

Snuggling up to his side, I asked, “So, what’s so important about this meeting that has you getting up early and missing work?”

“It’s just something Rev and I need to do. . . . I guess you could say it’s for Rev more than me, but I need to be there for support.”

As I traced the ink lines of one of Bishop’s tattoos with my finger, the irrational side of me couldn’t help worrying about what Rev needed to do and why Bishop needed to be there for support.

It didn’t sound good at all, and that fact made my stomach churn. Of course, I couldn’t imagine why Bishop would ask me along if it were something illegal. Maybe he planned to use me as a lookout or diversion. That thought made me feel like a paranoid fool. More than anything, I hoped that today would give me evidence to support the claim that the Raiders had gone legitimate in their business dealings. I hadn’t yet broached the subject to Peterson because I wanted to make sure I had some concrete evidence to back me up.

He had no idea that while I worked on the paper trails of other cases, I was secretly working on the Raiders.

“Are you sure about me going? It sounded kinda like a brothers’ thing.”

“Of course I’m sure. You heard Rev say that Annabel couldn’t go.”

“Yeah.”

“And there will be some other women there.”

“It’s good to know I won’t be the only vagina,” I said teasingly.

Bishop laughed. “You’ll be the only vagina that belongs to me.”

“Yes, Caveman.”

Bishop dipped his head to bring his lips to mine for a tender kiss. “I’m starting to dig you calling me Caveman. Kinda makes me hot.”

I grinned. “Why am I not surprised?”

“Guess we better get up and get going. Rev will have my ass if we make him late.”

“Where exactly is it we’re going in Chattanooga?” I asked as I sat up in the bed.

“You’ll see.”

“You really expect me to just get on the back of your bike and let you take me wherever you want?”

He laughed. “I sure as hell do.”

“You’re such an egomaniac!” I huffed.